Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas's video: Dehydrating your own backcountry meals - Ep 59 - Llama Life

Dehydrating your own backcountry meals is much easier than you might think. The initial investment is not steep and in our opinion the rewards are worth it. You can enjoy meal you like, without all the added things you don’t like. Not to mention save a few dollars along the way. Mark and Amy Livesay with Treeline Pursuits made the trip down to visit the Wilderness Ridge Trail Llama Ranch and made a guest appearance on our channel. In this video segment they discuss all aspects of dehydrating your own backcountry meals and Mark and Amy share their absolute favorite recipe with all our followers. Backcountry Pad Thai Recipe: The Ingredients for the Pad Thai sauce: 1 Cup chicken broth 5 Tbsp. soy sauce ½ -1 Tbsp. of anchovy paste (totally optional) 1/4 Cup pure maple syrup 1/3 Cup natural peanut butter Juice from 1/2 a lime 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar (any vinegar will work, though or extra lime) Siracha to taste (I usually do about 1 Tbsp.) 1 Tbsp. minced garlic Remaining ingredients for the Pad Thai: 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 Yellow or red Bell peppers thinly sliced 2 cans of chicken (the larger size of can) (this is key for dehydrating) 2 eggs 8-10 oz. of Rice noodles prepared as directed on the package **You can also add some thinly sliced carrots. I have done this before. Add all of the Pad Thai sauce ingredients to a saucepan and heat on medium so that it slowly boils. You want the peanut butter to break up and mix into the rest of the sauce. If you boil it longer, it will become thicker which is ok, just don't get it so thick that it won't spread through your noodles. Once you get a consistency you like, pull it off the heat. In a separate, large pan, add the oil and peppers. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to soften slightly then add the two eggs to scramble. Once eggs are almost cooked, add the noodles and chicken. Stir until eggs are cooked and then add sauce to mix and pull it off the heat. ***KEY – You will want to dehydrate ASAP after cooking. If you wait to long or refrigerate the Pad Thai it will be very hard to spread thin to properly dehydrate. EQUIPMENT Dehydrator – I use a Cabela’s 80-Liter Commercial Food Dehydrator for my meal dehydration. Of course there are other good dehydrators to choose from, and this is not a debate on the best unit. Just remember all dehydrators are not created equal. The good ones do get a little pricey. I just don’t feel you can skimp on the dehydrator and end up with good quality meals. Different foods require different temperatures. You want a unit that has a good range of temperature (105° F to 165° F). Uncooked meat is dehydrated towards the high end and I dehydrate most of my pre-cooked meals in the 130° to 135° range. A solid fan, air circulation systems and a timer is critical in meal dehydration. Vacuum Sealer – This is not something that is required for dehydrated meals, but if you are planning to use the Mylar bags or some sort of vacuum seal bag as we discussed below, you are going to need a sealer that can seal those bags at approximately 400 degrees. I’ve had a few units, but currently I’m using the Cabela’s Commercial-Grade 12″ Vacuum Sealer. This unit is very simply to operate and has both manual and automatic functions. You can certainly can get by with a cheaper sealer, you just need to make sure it has the temperature range to handle the Mylar bags. I typically do not use the vacuum option. I generally like to just squeeze out a little of the air and seal. I have found that a little air in the bags provides a little cushion for storage and packing in my pack. The Mylar/Retort Bags – Sorbent Systems (www.sorbentsystems.com) has been my main source of mylar bags, retort bags and oxygen absorbers. A retort pouch is a type of food packaging made from a laminate of flexible plastic and metal foils. I also get some of my dehyrating and meat processing supplies at: www.lemproducts.com Bag Option 1 – Single Serving Mylar Bags – This is my go-to bag, and the one I utilize the most. This bag can be heat sealed above the ziplock to provide seal and airtight enclosure. I package all my meals with a 200cc Oxygen Absorber and this makes those bags virtually impervious to the elements. The bag itself is 8.5” X 8.75” in size and easily holds 2-3 cups of dehydrated meal, with plenty of room to rehydrate with boiling water. This bag is the PAKVF4C structure and is 5.0 mils minimum and has an FDA approved sealant layer. This bag holds enough for a large meal serving. (The same or more than Mountain House) The bags are open on the zipper end with a fold over bottom. You can purchase these bags in blocks of 50 and they run about $.50 each. The item number is: